Industrial burner system



Oct. 14, 1969 w. c. COWAN INDUSTRIAL BURNER SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1968 TEMP --|ooo' s -soo FIG.3

' TIME INVENTOR. WILLIAM C. C 0 WA N BY [d 1 Oct. 14, 1969 w, c CQWAN INDUSTRIAL BURNER SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 23, 1968 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

v INVENTOR. WILLIAM c. COWAN United States Patent 3,472,184 INDUSTRIAL BURNER SYSTEM William C. Cowan, Shelby County, Tenn., assignor of fifty percent to Rees Burner & Blow Pipe (30., Memphis, Tenn.

Filed Apr. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 723,496 Int. Cl. F23b 1/38; F23] 1/02 US. Cl. 110-7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An industrial waste burner system including a conical burner of the forced draft type provided with a blower supplying air to the interior of the burner. A thermocouple is located near the exhaust opening at the top of the burner to detect the temperature of the exit gases. Louvers are provided at the inlet to the blower and a motor operator is operably coupled to the louvers to control the effective opening thereof. A controller is operably interposed between the motor operator and the thermocouple to control automatically the effective opening of the louvers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention pertains to industrial waste burner systems of the conical and forced draft type and to methods of reducing air pollution therefrom.

Destricption of the prior art Heretofore, in the operation of industrial waste burners there has been the problem of air pollution caused by the fly ash and smoke particles emanating from the burners. It has been found by studies that high exit gas temperatures of 600 F. and above are the most efiicient operating temperatures so that optimum conditions as to fly ash and smoke are obtained. With fairly even inputs of waste fuel loads into the burner and if the burner were of the correct size for the load, such optimum temperatures could be maintained with manual control by adjusting the tangential air inlets around the base of the burner and adjusting the air of a fan powered forced draft system, if installed. However, when the input load varies it is very difficult to maintain manual control over the exit gas temperature and the usual practice has been to let the burner exit gas temperature Wander over a wide range without any particular control thereover. Also, there is the danger of excessive temperatures being reached as when the input load is greatly increased. Before my invention, to my knowledge, there have been no industrial burners which are automatically controlled at a given temperature. One previous type of burner utilized a thermocouple actuated control for louvers to keep the louvers closed until the exit gas temperature reached a certain level, then would actuate the louvers to a more open position, but there was no control and the burner was allowed to float" Without regard to temperature control.

Another type of practice has been to utilize a thermocouple connected to a pyrometer located at ground level to give an indication of the exit gas temperature, with manual changes to the louvers or other type of air valve so that the burner will operate in a reasonably efiicient range of 600 F. and above. Additional changes were made manually upon periodic inspections throughout the day by personnel responsible for burner operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed towards overcoming the heretofore-mentioned problems relative to fly ash and smoke in industrial burners. This is accomplished in the present invention by controlling the temperature of the burner so that the exit gases operate near a predetermined set point and within a given range between 600 and 1,000 F. The burner system of the present invention includes a conical burner with a forced draft installed, which is provided with blower means supplying air to the interior of the burner, a thermocouple located near the exhaust opening at the top of the burner to detect the temperature of the exit gases, louver means provided at the inlet to the blower, a motor operator operably coupled to the louvers, and a controller operably interposed between the motor operator and the thermocouple to control automatically the effective opening of the louvers so that the temperature of the exit gases will be controlled within a given high temperature range despite the fact that the input load to the burner might be variable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the industrial waste burner system of the present invention and with a portion of the burner being broken away for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the burner of FIG. 1 and taken as on the line IIII of FIG. 1, and with portions of the burner floor being removed to show the inlet conduits for the air.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing a typical operation of the burner system illustrating a typical chart of the temperatures using proportional control.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of the air control assembly of the burner system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of that shown in FIG. 4, and with a portion of the inlet screen being broken away for purposes of illustration.

FIGS. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view of a portion of that shown in FIG. 5 showing the louvers in a closed position and illustrating various positions of the lever arm for various louver settings.

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6 showing the louvers in an open position.

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view showing the controller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The industrial waste burner system 11 of the present invention includes in general a conical burner 13, a forced air system 15 for directing air under pressure into the interior of the burner 13, and temperature responsive control means 17 for varying the amount of air forced into the burner to control the exit gas temperatures at a predetermined set point within a predetermined range.

Burner 13 is of any suitable construction and includes a substantially frustoconical burner body 19 formed substantially of heavy gauge sheet metal material preferably formed with ribs (not shown) and preferably utilizing circular rings, interior or exterior (not shown) around rigid frame structure (not shown) as is typical in the art. Waste fuel material F is introduced into the interior of body 19 by suitable means as through the inlet pipe 21 from a suitable source shown diagrammatically as at 23 in FIG. 1. This source has been indicated as being variable although it will be understood that it may be constant, but has been shown as variable since the present invention is particularly adapted to take care of a variable input load. It should be understood that by variable load is meant not only variable in quantity, but also it may be taken to mean variable in burnability, that is, the fuel may be wet or dry in varying degrees. The gas and combustion residue from the burning waste fuel F in the lower part of burner 13 rises and passes through the exit opening in the upper end of burner body 19 and which is preferably covered with perforated sheeting or screen 27 in a typical manner. As is typical in the art, a series of tangential ventilators 29 (two of which are shown in FIG. 1) are arranged circumferentially around the lower portion of burner body 19. Typically, each ventilator 29 is adjustable for regulating the passage of air into the interior of body 19.

Forced air system 15 comprises a blower 31 including a blower housing 33 in which is rotatably mounted a fan blade 35 of typical construction which is preferably of the circular flat paddle wheel type and is rotatably mounted in the housing 33 by suitable means and rotatably driven by a shaft 37 upon which the fan blade 35 is fixedly mounted. Shaft 37 is rotated by suitable means as the electric motor 39 mounted on suitable supporting means as a stand 41. An inlet conduit 43, having an entrance opening to the outside air, and which is preferably covered by screen 46, leads to the interior of blower housing 33 adjacent the center of fan blade 35 so that air is drawn into the blower 31 as shown by the arrows as at 47 and forced under pressure through the outlet conduit 49 that leads from housing 33 adjacent the periphery of blade 35 in a typical manner. The outer end of conduit 49 remote from housing 33 is preferably in the form of a box-like housing 50 which houses air valve or louver means 51 which has entrance opening 45 in the end thereof. In FIG. 4 only a portion of the outlet conduit 49 is shown and only that portion adjacent housing 33. However, the outlet conduit 19, which is communicated with inlet conduit 43 through housing 33, leads from the housing 33 and thence downwardly under the ground G as shown in FIG. 1 where it extends horizontally under the ground and beneath burner body 19 into a somewhat circular configuration concentric with the burner body and beneath the surface S of the ground G inside the burner body. It will be understood that in FIG. 2 for purposes of illustration the ground G has been removed to show the configuration of the outlet conduit 49. The outlet conduit 49 is preferably closed off at its distal end 52. Extending upwardly at spaced intervals along the circular portion 53 of outlet conduit 59 are a plurality of air outlets 55 which extend above surface S into the interior of burner 13 adjacent the base thereof for providing entrance means for air into the burner. The air outlets 55 are angled slightly inwardly, as will be seen in FIG. 2 as is typical in the art, so that a cyclonic effect is produced.

The control means 17 for controlling the amount of air forced into burner 13 preferably includes in general a thermocouple 57, a controller 59, a timer 61, a motor operator 63, louver means 51 and a coupling assembly 67 coupling motor operator 63 to louver means 51.

Thermocouple 57 is located in burner body 19 adjacent exit opening 25 in position to sense or detect the temperatures of the exit gases leaving the burner 13 through the exit opening 25. Thermocouple 57 is of any suitable type, as for example, Barber-Coleman, type K, shown in Barber-Coleman Company, Rockford, 111., brochure dated March 1967, and is connected by the usual conductors 69 in a well known manner to controller 59, which is of any suitable type known in the art, as for example, Barber-Coleman Series R, shown in Barber-Coleman Co., Rockford, Ill., catalog dated March 1967, and preferably is provided with an intermediate controller, Series 692, shown in Barber-Coleman Co., Rockford, 111., brochure dated February 1967, which rovides for proportional control means, as will be better understood in the description of the operation of the device to follow later. However, if desired, the proportional control may be omitted and the louver means 51 simply operated between completely open and completely closed positions.

Motor operator 63 is of any suitable type known in the art, as for example, the motorized operator shown in Barber-Coleman Co., Rockford, 111., brochure dated October 1965 (N0. F-8776-5).

Suitable electric circuits, not shown, well known to those skilled in the art are provided for connecting thermocouple 57, controller 59, timer 61 and motor operator 63 so that controller 59, depending upon the temperatures set and the control range, will cause actuation of motor operator 63 in a manner to be described later in the specification. Motor operator 63 includes the usual horizontal shaft 71 which is turnably positioned by signal from controller 59. A lever 73 is fixedly mounted on shaft 71 by suitable means. Lever 73 is pivotally coupled adjacent the outer end thereof to a link 75 adjacent the upper end thereof as at pivot point 77 by suitable means. Link 75 adjacent the lower end thereof is pivotally attached to an intermediate arm 79 as at pivot point 81. Intermediate arm 79 is fixedly attached to an intermediate shaft 83 that is turnably mounted in the housing portion 5% of inlet conduit 43 by suitable means and extends transversely across housing 51} adjacent entrance 45. An intermediate louver S5 is fixedly mounted on that portion of shaft 83 that spans inlet opening 45. Intermediate arm 79 extends rearwardly for a portion as at 87. Rearward portion 87 is pivotally coupled to an upper arm 89 and a lower arm 91 by a vertical link 93 with the pivot points between rearward portion 87 and vertical link 93 being shown as at 95 and the pivot points between link 93 and arms 89, 91 being respectively shown as at 97 and 99. Upper arm 89 is fixedly attached to a shaft 101 and a louver 103 is mounted on shaft 1111 above louver in a manner similar to the arrangement of louver 85 and shaft 83. Similarly, lower arm 91 is fixedly mounted on a lower shaft 1115 upon which a lower louver 167 is mounted in a manner similar to that heretofore described relative to shaft 83 and louver 85. When lever 73 is positioned in a first position as shown in FIG. 7, the louvers 85, 103 and 107 are substantially horizontal as shown in dotted lines in this figure, so that the louver means is in such a condition that the effective opening thereof is fully opened. On the other hand, when the lever 73 is in a position shown in solid lines in FIG. 6, louvers 85, 103 and 197 are in the position shown in dotted lines in this figure so that louver means 61 is in a closed condition. in FIG. 6 the position of lever 73 which corresponds to the closed condition of louver means 61 is shown by the line as at 1.0 and the position in the open condition of the louver means is shown as at 0. The lines between 0 and 1.0, as .1, .2, etc., represent the condition of the louver means at various positions of the lever For example, at the line .1 the louver means 61 is .1 open, at .2," the louver means is .2. open, etc.

The timer 61 is of any suitable type known to those skilled in the art and is coupled in to the circuits of the controller 59 in a well known manner so that during any desired interval set on the timer, as for example, at night during shutdown, it holds the controller out of the circuit, that is, makes the controller inoperative to control louver means 51. Also, the circuits are connected in a well known manner so that when the controller 59 is cut out of the circuit, as mentioned above, the louver means 51 automatically is moved to a closed position. Normally, the timer 61 is set so that it cuts controller 59 back in at a desired interval of time after startup. As for example, if startup is at 7:00 am, the timer might be set to cut controller 59 in at 7:15 am. so that the burner will have time to reach a suitable temperature and/or pile size at startup before the controller takes over.

The following is a description of the operation of the system 11 which describes typical operating conditions and as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3;

At startup the fire is started and blower 39 is started manually. At this time, the louver means 51 will be in a fully closed position as shown in FIG. 6. This will allow the temperature of the burning fuel F to gradually rise as indicated by the portion 109 of the curve of FIG. 3. After a given length of time, as for example, about 15 minutes, and while the temperature is still rising along the portion 109, the timer 61 will cause the controller 59 to take over. The temperature will rapidly rise in the portion 110 of the curve until the temperature as sensed by thermocouple 57 reaches the control point. This control point is illustrated in FIG. 3 as being 650 F. and as is known by those skilled in the art can be set on controller 59 at any desired temperature up to the top limit of theirange on the controller. Thus, when the temperature reaches 650 in this particular example, lever 73 of the motor operator 63 will move in response to the controller,59 which in turn is responsive to the thermocouple 57. so that the louver means will adjust and vary the amount of air through the forced draft system to maintain control at the desired set point, as shown in the example 650 F., and within a close range as shown.

The timer 61 is also used to make the controller 59 inoperative which moves the louver means 51 into the closedposition during periods when the source of fuel is shut off, as for example, break periods and lunch. Without the timer a typical curve wouldibe as shown as at 111 and with the timer as shown as at 112. By using timer 61, this reduces the smoking during the period when the source of fuel is shut off and shortens the time for the controller to get it back up to efficient control temperature.

Although I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications in structure may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An industrial waste burner system comprising a conical industrial burner having an exhaust opening at the upper end thereof through which exit gases are adapted to pass to the outside atmosphere, air system means for directing air under pressure into the interior of said burner, and temperature responsive control means operably coupled to said air system means and operable responsive to the temperature of the exit gases passing through said exhaust opening for varying the amount of air forced into said burner by said air system means to control the exit gas temperatures near a high temperature control point of at least 600 F.

2. An industrial waste burner system comprising a conical industrial burner having an exhaust opening at the upper end thereof through which exit gases are adapted to pass to the outside atmosphere, a plurality of air outlets in the interior of said burner adjacent the base thereof for providing entrance means for air into the burner; blower means including an inlet conduit having an entrance opening to the outside atmosphere, an outlet conduit communicating said inlet conduit with said air outlets, and fan means interposed between said inlet conduit and said outlet conduit for drawing air from the outside atmosphere through said entrance opening and said inlet conduit and forcing the air under pressure through said outlet conduit and said air outlets into the interior of said burner; air valve means in said inlet conduit operable in a plurality of positions providing a plurality of effective opening sizes to vary the amount of air flow through said inlet and outlet conduits, said air outlets and into the interior of the burner; motor Operator means, linkage means interconnecting said motor operator means for moving said air valve means to Various ones of said positions in response to said motor operator means, thermocouple means in said burner adjacent the upper end thereof for detecting the temperature of the exit gases passing upwardly through said burner and said exhaust opening to the outside atmosphere, and controller means operably coupled to and between said thermocouple means and said motor operator means for operating said motor operator means in response to said controller means and said thermocouple means to control automatically the effective opening size of said air valve means and maintain said burner exit gas at a high temperature control set point of at least 600 F. and within a close operating range and with a varying load being fed to the burner.

3. The industrial waste burner system of claim 2 which includes timer means operably coupled to said controller means for cutting said controller means into and out of operation at preselected times and in which said controller means is so arranged with said air valve means that when said controller means is cut out said air valve means is closed.

4. The industrial waste burner system of claim 2 in which said controller means includes proportional control means for controlling said air valve means.

5. The industrial waste burner system of claim 2 in which the exit gas temperatures emanating from said burner are automatically maintained by said controller means in a close operating range at a preselected control temperature in the range of 6001,000 F.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,367,165 l/ 1945 Astradsson -7 XR 2,804,031 8/1957 Douglass 11018 3,027,881 4/1962 Sams 110-72 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

